Cocos Nationals

The Cocos Nationals is the Cocos Islands affiliate of the National Party of Australia. The party promoted center-right views, and it supported state control of the economy, secularism, opposition to immigration, and a strong army. Its views were identified as right-wing populist.

The Nationals were formed in 1945, and they gained a small following among both whites and Indians on the islands. The party was small in 1946, but it grew to have 17.8% of the vote in 1949, partially due to its ability to compromise between the Cocos Liberals' social conservatism and the Cocos Labor Party's socialist economics. However, it was not nearly as popular as either the Liberals or Labor, which proved to be the two main contenders on the island. The Nationals were relegated to a third-party role, supporting the Liberals in elections.